>> the tunisian prime minister condemns and assassination after an opposition leader was shot. protesters have gathered outside the interior ministry in tunis. these are live shots. hello and welcome to al jazeera. asking for a fair day's pay indonesia oppose the economy booms. people are demanding an increase in the minimum wage. the french minister calls the conflict in mali a real war.

there's a new effort to save the ancient roman city of pompeii . a tunisian opposition leader has died after being shot outside his home in the capital tunis. shokri belaid led the unified democratic nationalist party and had been a strong critic of tunisia's government. witnesses say that he died in a clinic after being attacked when he left home. this shows the place reportedly where he was shot. his family and the prime minister have called it an assassination. the leader of the party which dominates the government says it undermines the ability of tunisia. >> this is a heinous political

climate seemed to undermine the stability of the country. targeting our transition to democracy and any development projects currently planned by the government. we consider the perpetrators as enemies of the country, of democracy, and of islam. >> a member of the opposition blame the government for the killing. >> i accuse that party. it has plotted for this assassination. we cannot be intrigued by their condemnation of the assassination. this is a defining day in our history and we hold the government responsible. >> let's get more on this from yusef, a journalist based in the tahitian capital, joining us over the telephone. good to have you with us.

if what can you tell us about this killing? >> we know that shokri belaid was a prominent leader of the popular front. he was shot dead this morning as he was leaving his house, a bullet in the head and a bullet in the neck. two suspects were involved and they are looking for them. this is shocking for to nations. tunisians.ise j meant thousands of people are headed to protest. many people are angry about this political violence to which they say the government did not react in the right way and it has led to this assassination. >> we have been seeing pictures of thousands of people, as you mentioned, on the streets of

tunis outside the interior ministry protesting against the killing. they directing their anger at? >> these are mainly students headed to the maine avenue as well as members of the popular front. they are essentially angry at the government because they denounced several times political events that led to a continuation of this violence. this assassination, has never happened before indonesia. people are absolutely shocked.

-- in tunisia. >> thank you very much. joining us is our correspondent. tell us who shokri belaid was and why would he have been a target? >> he's a member of a very small political party, the democratic nationalist party in tunisia, which is part of a broader coalition called the popular front, which is a gathering of leftist secular activists totally opposed to the policies of the predominantly islamist government. he had been a vocal critic of the government, saying the outcome of the revolution has shown the islamists threatening

democracy and that we need a democratic government. that we need secularism to prevail, and this earned him many opponents within society, particularly among conservatives and among the islamist. a few days ago he was on a tv show locally and he said that they promised to protect the revolution, but they are tools by the government and the islamists to get rid of us. >> we heard from an opposition leader who's blaming the government before his assassination. is that going to be in a widely held view? >> i don't think so, because the prime minister and the leader of

another party spoke just minutes after the assassination, condemning it, saying it is a terrorist attack. the minister of interior is a prominent member of the party, so this is bad news for the government. a few days ago they were talking about what is the only way to save the country. there were talking about a national unity government or a cabinet shuffle that would be more inclusive for them to be able to hold elections by june or july. timefor the traditional to be over and for them to finally have a democratically elected government. i think the government should come to the people tomorrow or today with a much broader offer. otherwise, we might see more clashes and the instability across the country. >> thank you for that insight into the assassination.

thank you. indonesia is making a reputation for itself as a rapidly growing economy, but workers are not seeing the benefits. thousands of people have been on the streets of jakarta on wednesday demanding better pay. they know the economy grew by more than 6% last year and want to know where their wages will grow. our correspondent has more from jakarta. >> a factory. a producer of children's clothing is moving its production to china. more than 200 workers have been sent home with severance pay. >> for the garment industry, as our cause is very high. ground 30%. the minimum wage goes up by 50%, like in jakarta, our salary will be 45% up a total cost. this is dangerous because we are competing with cheap imports from china. >> this is not what you expect

to see in a booming economy, a factory closing down and moving its production abroad. employers are complaining that higher labor costs will lead to higher unemployment. indonesia's's economy is growing more than 6%. labor unions demand a fair share for their workers. after a crowded and sometimes violent protests, local governments decided to raise the menem wage by 40%. at the end of january, many workers began receiving a higher salary of around 200 u.s. dollars per month. still not enough to afford proper housing. others have yet to receive a raise because employers are still negotiating with the government, like these metal workers. >> we need a proper life. that's impossible when the minimum wage does not go up. even before the way it was being

paid, the price for everything has gone up already. >> despite complaints from employers, labor unions say that minimum-wage in china and vietnam is still higher. they do admit that productivity of indonesian workers should be increased. >> we don't want people to lose their jobs because of high minimum wages. what we do want is openness and accountability so that if a company cannot afford to pay the minimum wage, it should provide evidence. >> employee organizations have borne that more than a half million workers could lose their jobs due to the higher minimum wages. more than 800 factories could close down. so far, this maker of children's clothing is one of the first to pack up and leave. the workers are back here at the palace after months of protests. they're still not happy. tens of thousands have gathered here from the metal industry, car factories, and electronics factories demanding a free

health care scheme, a pension scheme, and are asking the country to raise the minimum wage. these continuing protests not only worry the government but are great concerns to many companies. some have already left indonesia looking for production abroad, not only out of fear of high costs, but of fear and insecurity and instability. in another country is struggling with a growing disparity between rich and poor is china. it's not planning to have its own minimum wage. based on figures published by the china daily newspaper, average monthly salaries are $730. the government is looking to impose a minimum wage of 40% of that, giving workers at least $290 a month. al jazeera has this report from hong kong. part b increase in minimum wage is just one of the steps the

central government has announced in the hopes of putting in place and economic reform plan that should decrease the ever widening wealth gap in china. it's one of the major causes of social unrest that the government has had to deal with over the last few years. particularly, in the process of transitioning leadership, the last thing it wants to be seen to be doing is ignoring its people's concerns. they need to have a stable social atmosphere at the moment in china. one of the ways they hope to do that is by making a greater number their 1 billion people richer than they are right now. china is still dealing with a poverty problem. there are over 128 million people living on less than $1 per day. the chinese central government wants to cut that in half in the next two years. part of this economic reform is a change in the taxation system. they're looking to ask the state

owned companies to give more their profit-sharing to the government so that it can then be put into social security. aside from that, they want to tighten their grip on illegal economic activity in the country. what economists are saying is ultimately china has tried to do this before and it has not worked. the question now is how far will the implementation of these economic reforms go? >> at least five people have been killed in the south pacific solomon islands after a powerful earthquake triggered a small tsunami. the epicenter of the magnitude 8 quake was just off the santa cruz island, 330 kilometers from the capital. it damaged dozens of homes in one town. residents of low-lying areas were urged to move away from the ocean. andrew thomas has more from sydney, australia.

beckham into a acquitted pretty big. the pacific tsunami warning center issued an alert that stretched across from a big part of the pacific ocean. papua new guinea and new zealand and all the pacific islands in between were warned that a tsunami could be on its way. there was a tsunami generated. thankfully, it was much lower than it was first feared. by the time it hit santa cruz in the solomon islands, it was 1 meter in height. by the time it reached a final vanawatu, it was half that tight. the earthquake was a lot deeper than initially feared. it was thought to have been less than 6 kilometers down. in the end, 33 kilometers down. the impact was far less than it could have been. >> much more still ahead. >> [indiscernible]

>> worries over paying the bills mounting in greece and so are the numbers of phone calls to suicide phone lines. we look at the look atin mali after a year of turmoil. -- we look at the financial toll after a year of turmoil in mali. >> over many parts of pakistan there's been a lot of wet weather recently and that has been affecting northern parts of india and in afghanistan. in the last three days we have seen 191 millimeters of rain. that's well above the monthly average. the average is just 18 millimeters. plenty of rain recently. but it does look like the worst is now over. all of the wet weather gradually moving towards the east and then fizzling out. by the time we get to thursday,

there's not a great deal showing up. many of us will get away with a dry day. towards the west and farther south, more clout spirit in the southwest, there's a chance of one or two hours. in doha it has been fresh. but now the wind is changing again. there will no longer come from the north, so things will get a little warmer to the next few days. 24 degrees will be the maximum on thursday and 75 different types. farther north, clear, dry weather extends towards kabul. farther west, a little more and0

p.m. pacific, 9:00 eastern on l -- link tv. >> good to have you with us. the top stories. hundreds of people are rallying informationsia's ministry after the assassination of a government critic. shokri belaid of the unified democratic nationalist party was shot outside his home in the capital. workers are protesting in indonesia over broken promises in an increase in minimum wage. some employers are still negotiating with the government. people in fijian were moved to

higher ground after an earthquake triggered a tsunami in the south pacific. the alert has now been cancelled after the quake struck near the solomon islands, killing five people. more on our top story. the tunisian president speaking at the european parliament in strasbourg. he has just said that the country needs more support from europe as they transition into a democracy. we will have more on that as we get it. to mai. the french defense minister says the fight to reclaim the country is a real war. -- ito mali. this is despite having taken control of a town, they're still fighting. there's an agreement with french

in which malian soldiers have not been allowed to enter the town. and this is another town with a similar deal with the french. oryx firefighters managed to enter kidal after coordinating with the french army. -- our fighters managed to enter. >> the conflict has left mali's economy in a fragile state. our correspondent is in the capital. >> the printing presses are still running, but only just. this company has lost three- quarters of its business in the last year. if first there was a military coup, and the rebellion in the north. foreigners have left mali and

have taken their money with them. >> we were hit by the departure of the foreign companies based in mali and the international organizations like unisex. they all closed and left. -- organizations like unisef. >> the effects are being felt everywhere. it was a poor country before the latest crisis. but for the loss of foreign aid now suspended, people are struggling to survive now. >> price is expensive. 50 kilos used to cost $50. now it's almost 90 kil$90. but-- rice. we need things to return to normal. >> international donors support democracy, human rights, and economic development. the rebellion in the north was hijacked by al qaeda. the way it began, there were economic reasons as well as

political ones. if the central government does not disrupt that, it's difficult to see how there can be stability. another strain on the economy is a large number of displaced people who fled the fighting in the north. this woman was pregnant when al qaeda rebels captured timbuktu. she fled with her husband to bamako. like the other refugees, they depend on the kindness of strangers. >> people have left money -- people have less money to spend, the banks don't have money and the foreigners have stopped coming to buy things. even the french. everyone is gone. >> the future depends on securing the north and giving the different communities a stake in the country. this will involve sharing political power and distributing resources more fairly. national elections in july will be an important step.

al jazeera reporting from bamako. >> a former treasurer of spain's and former ruling party will be questioned on wednesday over accusations of corruption. a spanish newspaper has given prosecutors documents showing secret payments to members of the popular party. the prime minister is among those named in receiving money from construction companies that he and his party deny any wrongdoing. >> the no's -- 175. >> gay marriage in the u.k. is one step closer to becoming a lot after mp's overwhelmingly voted in favor of it in the house of commons. 136 conservatives rebelled against prime minister david cameron's leadership on the issue by voting against it. the same-sex marriage bill now have to be passed by the house of lords. fbi investigators have broken

up a $200 million credit card fraud ring in the united states. 18 people have been charged after dozens of houses were rated in new jersey. the suspects allegedly duped credit ratings agencies and used thousands of fake identities to steal from credit cards. the economic crisis that the greeks are enduring is well known, but not so well publicized in the impact of redundancy, tax rises, and unpaid bills, the impact it's having on people's mental health. >> behind the faces, there's a growing given toll, the mental trauma of the economic crisis that for many is proving too much. >> we have many more people facing difficulties with depression, with emotional disorders, with anxiety disorders.

we have many, many more suicides. [indiscernible] it's a problem for our society. >> a mental dexterity has never been busier. it's counselors operate in every quarter of the country. a suicide hotline received up to 100 calls a day. three-quarters of them over financial difficulties. psychologists point to the breakdown of traditional structures, the tighten its grip family in which the young and old always looked after one another. now over 1 million families, there's not a single member who works. it also point to the longevity of the crisis, a torment of pain and uncertainty that leads many greeks to feel hopeless. in another life, this person might be considered affluent. she inherited eight properties and had a good job as a psychotherapist. but then the work dried up.

tenants began to only pay token rents. and no property taxes mean she's all but broke. courts every day they asked for more money in taxes. where's all this money going. will we get to a point where we geteat any more? i feel as if i'm in a glass bowl. i can see outside, but i cannot get out. >> even if the economy becomes much better, the problem will be over, but it does not mean the symptoms of the people will be over. when the war is over, that does not mean those wounded in the warra are well. >> a long battle lies ahead for many. al jazeera reporting from athens. >> and pablo picasso portrait

has sold for $45 million. a 1932 painting was auctioned by sotheby's in london. he met marie in london while still living with his first wife and she became known as the artists golden muse. the ancient roman city of pompeii already lies in ruins that was destroyed by a volcano almost 2000 years ago. all the world heritage site is under modern-day spread from corruption and neglect. now this report from pompeii. >> it seems human negligence is finishing what mount vesuvius started almost 2000 years ago. the ancient roman city was buried by a volcanic eruption in 7080 and is crumbling away. -- 780

falling due to mismanagement and corruption. entire houses have collapsed into piles of rubble. now the european unit and is stepping in for preservation of this world heritage site is left in ruins. on wednesday, but $150 million great pompeii project will be rolled out officially. the archaeological site will be in secured, during the plan will go up in smoke. correct the problem with pompeii is that it has always received emergency funding. it has been